


The one where Peter finds out

by Margot_Lescargot



Series: Burdens of Responsibility [10]
Category: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Genre: M/M, postscript to last work in series, set just after Lies Sleeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22820572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Margot_Lescargot/pseuds/Margot_Lescargot
Summary: “Deleted scene” from the end of the previous work in the series.Does what it says on the tin.
Relationships: Thomas Nightingale/Alexander Seawoll
Series: Burdens of Responsibility [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1522985
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	The one where Peter finds out

**Author's Note:**

> As noted in the summary, this follows immediately on from the end of the last in the series, so just after the end of Lies Sleeping.  
> It was prompted in the main by several people shouting - justifiably - at me for cutting off the final conversation just as it was getting interesting. So here it is.

Molly eyed the tea table critically. She adjusted the way certain of the plates were arranged, and then stepped back to consider the whole. Foxglove hovered at Molly’s shoulder - anticipating her movements by a split second – as she did when in the main rooms of the Folly and not in Molly’s quarters or the kitchen.

Molly considered and moved a couple of dishes by a final half-turn and then gave a satisfied nod. She looked inquiringly at Thomas.

‘Thank you Molly, that looks…’ began Thomas

‘It looks grand,’ said Alex. ‘Thanks Molly.’

‘Yes. It does. If that’s everything, could you please just bring in the tea when Peter gets here?’

Molly nodded, and swept back towards the kitchen, Foxglove behind her, their steps perfectly in sync.

‘How are you doing? Ok?’ said Alex, placing a hand on Thomas’ arm.

‘Yes. Thanks. I just want to get it over with now.’ He sighed. ‘I don’t know why I’m so unfathomably nervous.’

‘It will be fine. As you said yourself,’ said Alex. 

He stepped back as Molly appeared, alone this time, with a steaming silver teapot, which could only mean that Peter must have arrived. She set it down, whisked an invisible crumb from the tablecloth, and departed again. But before she did, she stood flush next to Thomas’ side, so that their shoulders were touching for a second or so, before moving on.

‘Thank you,’ he said weakly.

‘So did you have to meet the DAC in the end last week or not?’ said Alex, for the sake of saying something, as Peter appeared from the direction of the back stairs. He looked better than he had, but still thinner than he should be.

He looked, understandably, slightly bemused to see both of them standing there.

‘Ah, Peter,’ began Thomas and, involuntarily, he reached towards Alex for support, before he caught himself and redirected his hand into his pocket instead. Peter probably hadn’t noticed anything amiss. ‘Got everything?’

‘Yeah, thanks. I’ve left the TV for you and Molly; we don’t need two,’ and then he turned to acknowledge Alex.

‘Good. Good. Capital.’ Thomas could feel himself beginning to babble and cursed inwardly. He took a breath. ‘I thought you might like to join us for tea, and, er, we might have a little chat.’ He winced, “a little chat” indeed.

‘A chat?’ Luckily, Peter seemed not to have noticed the abominable clichés and was just looking puzzled, poor lad. It was time to grasp the nettle.

‘Do sit down.’ He took a seat himself. ‘Inspector Seawoll and I-‘ he caught himself as he sensed Alex tense beside him, ‘that is to say, Alex and I-‘

That ought to get the ball rolling. And indeed it seemed to.

Peter started. ‘Sorry? Alex?’ Thomas knew Peter well enough that he could see the deductions flickering behind his eyes.

Alex spoke: ‘Sit down lad; there’s something we want to tell you.’

Peter looked around himself and dropped suddenly into one of the cracked leather armchairs.

‘You want to tell me something?’ Peter seemed content to go for the obvious.

‘That’s right,’ said Alex as he poured tea, and looked over at Thomas.

‘Peter,’ said Thomas, ‘There’s no other way of saying this. You ought to be aware that Alex and I are… involved. And have been for some time.’ 

‘Involved?’ Peter’s brow furrowed. ‘Involved…. you mean, as in..?’ He seemed determined to pursue the literal.

‘Um, romantically..’ Thomas glanced at Alex, who shrugged, ‘I suppose would be the most accurate way of putting it.’

‘So you’re fu-, I mean… you’re in a relationship? With each other?’

‘Yes! That’s the one. That’s what I ought to have said. Yes, Alex and I are in a relationship,’ he said proudly, and then collected himself. ‘And, as I say, we wanted to, er ,make you aware of it…’ he trailed off.

Peter was thinking. ‘You said for some time.’

‘Sorry?’

‘Before. You said “some time”, you’d been together for some time.’

‘We have,’ said Alex.

‘How long?’

‘Well, er,’ Alex looked at Thomas, ‘I’d put it from… October?’ Thomas nodded and gave a small smile. ‘Yeah, since October.’ He paused, ‘Er, the year before last.’

Peter came close to dropping his cup. ‘That’s almost two years.’

‘Yes,’ said Thomas. ‘Almost.’

‘So does everyone else know?' he demanded. 'Apart from me I mean?’

‘No. No! I can assure you of that. Molly is the only one who has been aware of the situation. You can imagine that it would have been impossible to keep from her.’

‘And you didn’t tell me, why?’ Peter was trying to bank down his indignation, but it was seeping through.

‘We chose – at the very beginning – to wait until the business with… the rogue practitioner was concluded. Primarily because I felt – and it was my idea if you were wondering – that it would be an added burden for you, at an already stressful time, that wasn’t absolutely necessary for you to bear. And at the time I proposed it - if I am honest - I didn’t think that concluding that business would take as long as it did.’

‘So…’ Peter considered. ‘So it wasn’t because you weren’t sure?’

‘No,’ said Thomas, ‘emphatically not that.’ 

In other circumstances, he would have taken Alex’s hand at this point, but they had agreed beforehand not to make any overt displays of affection in front of Peter. ‘Best let him get used to the idea first,’ Alex had said. ‘We don’t want to push him over the edge the first time.’

Another thought had occurred to Peter. ‘But, you two, at work, you’re still so…’

‘Well yeah,’ said Alex, ‘I mean, whatever else is going on, he still drives me round the fucking bend at times. That doesn’t change.’

‘But,’ he added, ‘and this might help you with all this, I dunno, but I’ve learned to separate the job from the man. Does that make sense?’

Peter nodded slowly, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ He puffed out his cheeks. ‘But this is still gonna take some getting used to.’

‘Of course. And it goes without saying, I hope, that I wanted to be the one to tell you, rather than you overhear it as canteen gossip. I mean… of course..’

‘S’ok. Don’t worry. And yeah, ok. Thanks.’

‘Further, now that we have told you, you should know that we will be taking steps to make things official at work. Going through the proper channels, alerting whoever it is needs to be alerted, and whatnot…. You'll appreciate that Alex has a much better handle on all of that than I do.’

‘Yeah, you wouldn’t even fucking bother if I left it to you, would you?’ He looked at Peter. ‘See what I mean?’

There was a pause. ‘I think I’ll be going,’ said Peter. ‘It’s ok, I mean, I’m ok. I just need a bit of time to process… this.’ He put his teacup on the table and stood up.

‘Of course,’ Thomas stood also. ‘I’ll see you for practice on Wednesday.’ There was the slightest hint of a question.

‘Yeah. Obviously. See you Wednesday. See you…’ he turned to Alex, ‘.. around.’

‘See you,’ said Alex smiling.

‘Say hi to Molly and Foxglove. ‘Bye then,’ and he headed back across the atrium towards the courtyard.

As Peter rounded the back stairs, Thomas let out a long breath, and then began pacing. ‘That went.. well, I think. Did you think it went well? It seemed to go well.’

Alex leant on the back of one of the chairs and watched him.

‘… I mean, he didn’t seem… repelled or… anything. And as he said, it will merely take some time for him to adjust.’

Alex raised an eyebrow indulgently.

‘Also, that felt good, I think. I mean, it was good to tell someone else. Openly. I see that now.’

Alex grinned. ‘Come here you.’

Thomas returned the grin, strode over to Alex and kissed him enthusiastically. Alex responded in kind.

‘Molly?’ murmured Alex some moments later, as they broke for air.

Thomas recommenced kissing him, ‘Won’t disturb,’ he said presently between breaths, ‘while we’re here.’

They continued in this vein; Alex’s hands were in Thomas’ hair, and Thomas was beginning to grind by the slightest amount against Alex’s thigh.

Until the smallest noise, a tiny noise of plastic and metal, was heard simultaneously by both of them, and they stopped what they were doing, as one, and looked towards where the noise had come from.

Peter was bending over the chair he had been sitting in. He straightened and held up the car keys that must have been the reason for his return. He didn’t look directly at either of them, and his face was determinedly blank. He pocketed the keys, turned and walked noiselessly back across the atrium on his rubber soles.

They didn’t say anything, didn’t move even until Peter had disappeared from view again, and then, as if the spell had been broken, they straightened and Thomas stepped back and away from Alex.

‘Oh, _hell_ ,’ he said, running a hand through his hair.

Alex grimaced. ‘Oh well,’ he said. ‘It’s done now, I suppose; can’t be helped.’ 

‘And,’ he added thoughtfully, ‘it’s not ideal, but it could have been a fuck of a lot worse.’


End file.
